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| | | Hieroglyphic Pikes Peak - 3465 - 2191 - Mill, AZ | | | |
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Hieroglyphic Pikes Peak - 3465 - 2191 - Mill, AZ
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| Hiking | 15.81 Miles |
3,365 AEG |
| | Hiking | 15.81 Miles | 10 Hrs 22 Mns | | 1.91 mph |
| 3,365 ft AEG | 2 Hrs 5 Mns Break | | | |
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[ show ]
| partners | | We returned to Hells Canyon Wilderness a few months after our first visit to check out some new peaks. We started counter-clockwise on the Walkin' Jim Loop and left the trail early to hike up to Peak 2191, which was more hill than peak. It served as a nice warmup--pretty easy off-trail hiking and less than 400 feet of elevation gain to the top. A few javelinas ran off as we made our way up, and even though it's a fairly low peak, it offered nice views of Lake Pleasant just after sunrise. On the way back down toward the trail, we saw our first wild burro of the day.
Based on the guides for Pike's Peak and 3465, it sounded like the latter would be the slower of the two, with more bushwhacking and scrambling required to reach the top. With that in mind, we decided to hike 3465 next and get complete the bigger challenge first, so we headed west and continued onto Big Jim Trail. It's a beautifully rugged area as the trail starts to climb toward the saddle at the end of Big Jim, and we saw three wild burros up on the hillside. @TBoneKathy waited part way up Big Jim while I continued toward the peak. The burros ended up leading the way for a while, staying on the trail and jogging ahead of me as I approached before they finally ran down a steep hillside...their surefootedness on steep, loose terrain in impressive. [ youtube video ]
The route to 3465 was well-cairned, relatively brush-free, and easy to follow. I saw another group of javelinas on the way up, and the few areas that required some scrambling were straightforward. The lid on the summit register jar had rusted through, and the papers inside had suffered water damage. I had an empty plastic container with me, so I put all the old papers inside and added a few new sheets.
[ youtube video ]
On the way back down, I found a random piece of pottery near Big Jim Trail at the saddle, which I didn't expect out there. I rejoined TboneKathy, and we headed for Pike's Peak next. That proved to be a much slower bushwhack than 3465, with a lot more brush and loose rock to contend with and no informal trail to follow. With time constraints, TboneKathy waited partway up the slope to the saddle while I continued on. It wasn't particularly steep or difficult and didn't have any exposure; it was just slow going beteween rocky terrain and plenty of sharp desert foliage to dodge. One I reached the saddle, it was a much faster final climb up to the summit, where there were two memorials, one for someone named Bill Marsh and one for Bob Marsh. I didn't find a summit register up there...perhaps I should have saved the plastic bottle I'd left to replace the one on 3465...
[ youtube video ]
Still short on time, I rushed over toward Mill 3189, passing a few more wild burros along the way. On the scramble up to the peak, I ended up with a teddy bear cholla stuck in my right calf, in the exact same spot I'd already removed one earlier in the day...ouch. I found the benchmark on the top but didn't see a summit register or go off the ridgeline to look for Frustum #18 before I started back down.
[ youtube video ]
It was nice to be back on flat trail again after a lot of bushwhacking, and we had a few more wild burro encounters on the hike out--some we saw, some we only heard braying nearby...a much more welcome sound than the shooting range off in the distance. Overall, it was a really nice day, with visits to four new peaks, perfect weather, and relative solitude--we only saw four other people all the trails all day--two bow hunters and two hikers. |
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